Problem with Heritage Auctions 1 1

[Math Teacher]

On May 22, I placed an order for a copy of The Flash #121 CGC 6.5 with Heritage Auctions. It was a "Buy Now" item.

The seller originally had listed this book for $170. I made an offer of $155, and the seller countered with $168. By the time the next day had rolled around, the seller increased the price to $180. I then offered $168, and he countered with $170, which I accepted.

As soon as I accepted this price, I was prompted to enter my payment method. I chose having it taken directly out of my checking account.

At the end of May, I had not received any information about the book being shipped, nor had any money been taken out of my checking account. I tried calling Heritage multiple times, but each time I was transferred to a customer service agent, s/he could not hear me. Finally, someone from Heritage called me, and I expressed my concern about the delay. I was told, "This is reputable and regular seller, and we believe that the book is on its way to us."

It is now June 11, which is 20+ days since I originally placed my order. In my opinion, I believe it is clear that the seller has no intention of shipping the book to Heritage. Of course, it could have been "lost" in the mail. I feel that the seller may have sold the book using another venue, and is just stalling. I sent an email to Heritage today, and I asked that this order be cancelled. Since today is Sunday, I haven't heard back from them.

Has anyone had a similar experience with Heritage Auctions? If so, how was it resolved?

Thank you in advance for your replies.

Edited June 11, 2023 by Math Teacher

[Point Five]

While I agree it's frustrating, in my experience waiting a month to receive a consigned item (from Heritage, Metro/ComicConnect or whoever) isn't unusual. Perhaps HA has the book already and you're now waiting on their shipping department?

You're within your rights to request a cancellation, but at three weeks in for a fairly inexpensive book I tend to think you are jumping the gun. Just my opinion.

 

[valiantman]

On 6/11/2023 at 8:37 PM, Point Five said:

While I agree it's frustrating, in my experience waiting a month to receive a consigned item (from Heritage, Metro/ComicConnect or whoever) isn't unusual. Perhaps HA has the book already and you're now waiting on their shipping department?

You're within your rights to request a cancellation, but at three weeks in for a fairly inexpensive book I tend to think you are jumping the gun. Just my opinion.

 

I'm surprised Heritage deals with books (or any items, really) under $500, to be honest.  There are plenty of collectors for those items, but high quality printed catalog branding doesn't usually accompany "common" inventory.

Edited June 12, 2023 by valiantman

[Point Five]

On 6/12/2023 at 10:05 AM, valiantman said:

I'm surprised Heritage deals with books (or any items, really) under $500, to be honest.  There are plenty of collectors for those items, but high quality printed catalog branding doesn't usually accompany "common" inventory.

Right, there is that. And to be fair, I do sympathize with the OP. It's annoying when (regardless of the dollar amount) it feels like your transaction has fallen through the cracks and you feel like you have to hound them to get the thing done. But on the other side of it, they are putting in this work and shipping the book twice so that the seller can eke out $140 or so and Heritage makes maybe $30?... and then potentially have to undo that in midstream. From that standpoint I'd probably just let the process play out for awhile longer.

As another aside, based on my own HA shipping experiences from the past year, I'd be surprised if once they receive the book from the seller they can process it and ship back out in less than a week. Not saying that's ideal, but they have definitely slowed down.

 

[valiantman]

On 6/12/2023 at 9:54 AM, Point Five said:

On 6/12/2023 at 9:05 AM, valiantman said:

I'm surprised Heritage deals with books (or any items, really) under $500, to be honest.  There are plenty of collectors for those items, but high quality printed catalog branding doesn't usually accompany "common" inventory.

Right, there is that. And to be fair, I do sympathize with the OP. It's annoying when (regardless of the dollar amount) it feels like your transaction has fallen through the cracks and you feel like you have to hound them to get the thing done.

No doubt. I can't count how many single purchases of slabbed books I've made in the $150 range, so I get the frustration. But, I recognize that Heritage prides itself on million dollar books, with hundred thousands next, ten thousands, etc... and then comics are only a small part of their business, so it's a bit like being upset with Bill Gates and Microsoft over your specific purchase of one copy of Microsoft Office because they're not making it a priority. He/they don't really benefit from it either way and I can't imagine any business model where it's a priority if customer service resources are having to prioritize.

But I still get the frustration. I've got a stack of slabs in the same price range that were a priority for the individual sellers who shipped them to me because we all "play" in the same ballpark, pricewise. Heritage is more of a stadium than where I usually take the field in the minor leagues.

And yes, I do consider my own collection as part of a lower level of the minor leagues.

Edited June 12, 2023 by valiantman

[Math Teacher]

I got this reply from Heritage today.

Thank you for your email. It typically takes 30 days from payment received to finalize all transactions such as yours. As it’s been 20 days, please give us another 10 business days to complete. Thank you for your patience and have a wonderful day.

[Point Five]

On 6/12/2023 at 11:28 PM, Math Teacher said:

I got this reply from Heritage today.

Thank you for your email. It typically takes 30 days from payment received to finalize all transactions such as yours. As it’s been 20 days, please give us another 10 business days to complete. Thank you for your patience and have a wonderful day.

IMO that sounds reasonable enough. (It also sounds like they have some experience in fielding cancellation requests.)

 

[valiantman]

On 6/13/2023 at 9:39 AM, Point Five said:

On 6/12/2023 at 10:28 PM, Math Teacher said:

I got this reply from Heritage today.

Thank you for your email. It typically takes 30 days from payment received to finalize all transactions such as yours. As it’s been 20 days, please give us another 10 business days to complete. Thank you for your patience and have a wonderful day.

IMO that sounds reasonable enough. (It also sounds like they have some experience in fielding cancellation requests.)

Plus, their first statement is "30 days", then it's "another 10 business days".  Since there are only 5 business days per week, "30 days" really means "6 weeks".

May 22 to June 11th (first post in this topic) was 14 business days. Today makes 16 business days since purchase.

There are 14 business days left... target arrival date would be July 3rd.

Edited June 13, 2023 by valiantman

[Math Teacher]

Well, my order was confirmed today, one day after I sent my e-mail. Just a coincidence? I guess we'll never know.

 

[WolverineX]

On 6/13/2023 at 2:13 PM, Math Teacher said:

Well, my order was confirmed today, one day after I sent my e-mail. Just a coincidence? I guess we'll never know.

 

squeaky wheel gets the grease

[Dr. Balls]

I had a similar problem with a book I bought on consignment from another auction house - while it had quite the complicated story behind it, ultimately the auction house squared it all away, even thought it took time. I think that's the key takeaway from your situation from HA. Glad it's marked as 'confirmed' and no matter what happens, I think you can at least take some comfort in the fact that they're a big enough outfit to make sure you get handled either way.

[GWO]

I'm fairly sure in the fine print of the invoice it says it could take up to 3 weeks for orders to get shipped out.  It really just depends on where the book is coming from and how long it takes to get to Heritage for them to start their process.   It's a bit of a spoon shoot.  Sometimes mine get sent out the day after I'm invoiced.  Sometimes a couple weeks.  Kinda sucks, but it is what it is 

Edited June 14, 2023 by GWO

[GWO]

On 6/14/2023 at 11:44 AM, GWO said:

I'm fairly sure in the fine print of the invoice it says it could take up to 3 weeks for orders to get shipped out.  It really just depends on where the book is coming from and how long it takes to get to Heritage for them to start their process.   It's a bit of a spoon shoot.  Sometimes mine get sent out the day after I'm invoiced.  Sometimes a couple weeks.  Kinda sucks, but it is what it is 

I don't know why c r a p shoot keeps getting switched to spoon shoot, but I'm leavin it